Batcombe: St Mary

Dorset villages have a well-deserved reputation for offering a warm welcome to newcomers. The same is true of our Benefice and there are lots of different places where you can find a home with us.Every one of our worshipping communities has its own character, but they all share a desire to welcome anyone who comes through the door. Come in and you will find friendly faces.

Each week in different parts in the Benefice you will find family friendly worship. We aim to provide something for all ages at these services so come and test us out. Feedback is very welcome.There is a very long history of worship in the Benefice going back hundreds of years. Our worship reflects this with more modern worship living happily alongside more traditional forms.

Batcombe is a small dispersed village at the head of the beautiful Wriggle Valley. The parish is mostly dairy farmland and comprises 30 or so houses, spread along the four arms of the central crossroads. Farming families form the bedrock of the population of 75 adults, which also includes business folk working from home or commuting and a few retired or second homeowners. The small but beautiful old church of St. Mary Magdalene is at the extreme south of the village.

The church has a locally-built organ with an organist. The surrounding graveyard and adjoining car park are regularly maintained by a small but dedicated group of volunteers from the village. One mile to the east is Hilfield Friary, one of the foundation houses of the Society of Saint Francis, and Batcombe is blessed by the support of the Brothers, who preside at some services

For all enquiries: contact Jenny Thomas at the Benefice Office open Monday and Tuesday morning from 9:30am to 12:30pm or phone on 01935 872600 or email at [email protected].

Beer Hackett: St Michael

Dorset villages have a well-deserved reputation for offering a warm welcome to newcomers. The same is true of our Benefice and there are lots of different places where you can find a home with us.

Every one of our worshipping communities has its own character, but they all share a desire to welcome anyone who comes through the door. Come in and you will find friendly faces.

Beer Hackett (with Knighton) is a thriving village of approximately 90 people. Alongside farms and smallholdings is an Automobility business with 47 employees. Having no pub or shop, St. Michael’s church is the only gathering point for village events.

Regular monthly services are held, with special services for festivals. Annual events include the Good Friday ‘Way of the Cross’ walk, a wine and cheese party, and a Christmas carol service. Other events are arranged by the Friends of St. Michael. The church has a proactive PCC and a well-organised team of cleaners and flower arrangers.

Each week in different parts in the Benefice you will find family friendly worship. We aim to provide something for all ages at these services so come and test us out. Feedback is very welcome.

There is a very long history of worship in the Benefice going back hundreds of years. Our worship reflects this with more modern worship living happily alongside more traditional forms.

For all enquiries: contact Jenny Thomas at the Benefice Office open Monday and Tuesday morning from 9:30am to 12:30pm or phone on 01935 872600 or email at [email protected].

Bradford Abbas: St Mary the Virgin

St Mary's is open every day to visitors. Please come in for a moment of personal prayer or when you just want a quiet place to sit and think. We have tea and coffee making facilities - help yourself. We have two or more Sunday services each month and new faces are always welcome.

Bradford Abbas is a large village of around 1000 inhabitants, including some families who have lived in the village for many generations. It is a caring and friendly community, situated away from the main A30 approximately midway between Sherborne and Yeovil. It has a primary school and a pre-school, a pub and a village hall. There is a sports ground with a recreational club, a Variety club, a branch of the WI, a thriving history society, a camera club, and bridge and yoga clubs.

St. Mary’s is a beautiful grade I listed church in good order with a fine organ often used for concerts. There is a Heritage Fund for help with some major fabric works, and any appeals are supported by the villagers, even if they do not attend church.

There is a Bible study group, an enthusiastic bell-ringing group, which also supports neighbouring churches, and a choir formed for Christmas carols. The church works closely with the primary school, organising several services throughout the year, and also supports the Sherborne Food Bank.

Bishop's Caundle Parish Church

All are welcome at Bishops Caundle Church. Known simply as 'Bishops Caundle Parish Church', serving the community of Bishops Caundle, making Jesus known. We enjoy a close working partnership with our nearest CE primary school.

This has been a site of Christian worship for at least 800 years although the present church building mostly dates from the 14th and 15th centuries.

Set on the main A3030 through the village centre, the parish church has no dedication. Services are held monthly. The church has good links with the village’s All Saints Primary School, which serves many villages in the surrounding area and operates a weekly Forest School Toddler Group. Good facilities are available at the nearby well-equipped village hall. Here parishioners support various activities, including a musical Big Bash, a monthly Fair Trade Café, and the Harvest Supper, as well as Short Mat Bowls and Badminton. The village also has a pub and a shop owned and run by the community, open daily, with an outreach Post Office available on two afternoons a week.

The church consists of a chancel, nave, south aisle, north porch and three-stage west tower which is Perpendicular in style with elements of Somerset tracery. It has a peal of five bells which are regularly rung. The earliest parts of the present building date from the 14th century and are the east wall of the nave and south aisle and the eastern part of its south wall. The nave, west tower and the remainder of the south aisle date from the second half of the 15th century. The north wall of the nave, the south wall of the south aisle, the north porch and most of the chancel were all rebuilt in 1864 when the church was extensively restored by William Slater. The roofs of the chancel, nave and tower were also renewed, a gallery was removed, and a new ringing floor fitted to the tower, while the church interior was repaved, re-floored, and the pews fitted from earlier box-pews.

Caundle Marsh: St Peter & St Paul

Dorset villages have a well-deserved reputation for offering a warm welcome to newcomers. The same is true of our Benefice and there are lots of different places where you can find a home with us.

Every one of our worshipping communities has its own character, but they all share a desire to welcome anyone who comes through the door. Come in and you will find friendly faces.

Each week in different parts in the Benefice you will find family friendly worship. We aim to provide something for all ages at these services so come and test us out. Feedback is very welcome.

There is a very long history of worship in the Benefice going back hundreds of years. Our worship reflects this with more modern worship living happily alongside more traditional forms.

The church of St. Peter and St. Paul stands in a small churchyard adjacent to a working dairy farmyard and is well-loved by the residents of this tiny, scattered village for whom it provides a focus.

The congregation is developing a unique identity as “the Church on the Farm”, intent on developing relationships with the nearby Bishops Caundle Primary School and becoming a valuable resource for learners as an Eco Church.

Services are held on the fifth Sunday of the month, and social events are held after the Harvest service and in early December - “Tune Up for Christmas”, a carol-singing gathering. There is a committed PCC and the church has strong links with local farming families.

For all enquiries: contact Jenny Thomas at the Benefice Office open Monday and Tuesday morning from 9:30am to 12:30pm or phone on 01935 872600 or email at [email protected].

Chetnole: St Peter

Welcome to St. Peter's Church, Chetnole. Our church lies at the heart of this lovely Dorset village, right opposite the Chetnole Inn and the village hall. We have a regular congregation that is slowly growing, but the level of support enjoyed from volunteers across the village gives substance to the claim that the church is at the heart of the village both physically and spiritually.

The village population numbers around 300. The village has a pub and its own halt on the Heart of Wessex railway line. The village hall is an Artsreach Dorset venue and hosts an annual Art Exhibition. There is a strong sense of a church community, and regular church services include a lay-led service where representatives of relevant charities or church groups are often invited to speak.

Major festivals and services are very well supported and a thriving Friends group raises funds to maintain the fabric of the church. Many other volunteers are responsible for flower arranging, cleaning and maintenance of the churchyard.

Folke: St Lawrence

Dorset villages have a well-deserved reputation for offering a warm welcome to newcomers. The same is true of our Benefice and there are lots of different places where you can find a home with us. Every one of our worshipping communities has its own character, but they all share a desire to welcome anyone who comes through the door. Come in and you will find friendly faces.

Each week in different parts in the Benefice you will find family friendly worship. We aim to provide something for all ages at these services so come and test us out. Feedback is very welcome.

St. Lawrence Church, Folke, also serves the larger village of Alweston and the hamlets of Bishops Down, Haydon, and North Wootton, offering the scattered local community a variety of services, always followed by coffee and chat.

Special services include a very popular Carol Service and Nativity and a well-attended Pet Service every autumn. Newcomers to the village receive a welcome pack from the church. Alweston has a well-equipped Village Hall where an outreach Post Office opens for half a day each week. The Hall is used regularly for WI meetings, an art group and fitness classes.

A big attraction locally is the Alweston Car Boot Sale, held on four Bank Holidays a year to raise money for the church and Village Hall. There is a very long history of worship in the Benefice going back hundreds of years. Our worship reflects this with more modern worship living happily alongside more traditional forms.

For all enquiries: contact Jenny Thomas at the Benefice Office open Monday and Tuesday morning from 9:30am to 12:30pm or phone on 01935 872600 or email at [email protected].

Hermitage: St Mary

Dorset villages have a well-deserved reputation for offering a warm welcome to newcomers. The same is true of our Benefice and there are lots of different places where you can find a home with us.

Every one of our worshipping communities has its own character, but they all share a desire to welcome anyone who comes through the door. Come in and you will find friendly faces.

Each week in different parts in the Benefice you will find family friendly worship. We aim to provide something for all ages at these services so come and test us out. Feedback is very welcome.

There is a very long history of worship in the Benefice going back hundreds of years. Our worship reflects this with more modern worship living happily alongside more traditional forms.

The little village of Hermitage lies in a small valley with a population of around 80 people working in small businesses, including farming, fishing, and building. It is an active and supportive community, taking part in croquet and concerts in aid of the church, coffee mornings and parties in the village hall and a summer festival weekend on the village green. The simple church is dedicated to St. Mary the Virgin and has a regular small congregation augmented at special services such as Harvest and Christmas Eve.

For all enquiries: contact Jenny Thomas at the Benefice Office open Monday and Tuesday morning from 9:30am to 12:30pm or phone on 01935 872600 or email at [email protected].

Hilfield: St Nicholas

Dorset villages have a well-deserved reputation for offering a warm welcome to newcomers. The same is true of our Benefice and there are lots of different places where you can find a home with us.

Every one of our worshipping communities has its own character, but they all share a desire to welcome anyone who comes through the door. Come in and you will find friendly faces.

Each week in different parts in the Benefice you will find family friendly worship. We aim to provide something for all ages at these services so come and test us out. Feedback is very welcome.

There is a very long history of worship in the Benefice going back hundreds of years. Our worship reflects this with more modern worship living happily alongside more traditional forms.
Joined with the parish of Yetminster, St. Nicholas, Hilfield is at the southern end of the Benefice and is a lively, well-supported small church at the centre of a farming community set in glorious countryside with outstanding views.

The village itself has no centre, but the church attracts a gathered congregation from the area, including the Friary, for its occasional services. A small team meets regularly and the church is well maintained.

For all enquiries: contact Jenny Thomas at the Benefice Office open Monday and Tuesday morning from 9:30am to 12:30pm or phone on 01935 872600 or email at [email protected].